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| April dive report |
| 18 June 2011, 22:02 |
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Rocktail Bay is one of SA's best and most exclusive dive spots, with access limited to one of the few lodges along this spectacular coastline. Rocktail Beach Camp is one of these - check out their special offers here.
Weather
We can begin to feel winter's chill moving in, and the Cape Gannets, mostly brown juveniles, are starting to arrive. They normally come up for the winter months from the Cape around the same time as the humpback whales, so we are keeping our eyes peeled for the first tell-tale spouts.
Diving
The first unusual sighting this month was seen by Scott and Riley Houston. Scott has been doing his Dive Masters Course with Michelle over the past 12 months and was leading a dive at Aerial when he spotted a bowmouth guitarfish! This species (Rhina ancylostoma) to quote Dennis King, is "Prehistoric in appearance with its broad rounded snout, wing-like pectoral fins and ridges of thorn-like protuberances over its head and back." This is a very rare sighting for scuba divers! The specimen we saw was a giant, at least 3 metres in length resting on the seabed. We managed to creep in slowly till we were just a few metres away and were eye balling each other for a good 10 minutes.
The very next day after a lovely dive at Pineapple, it was just Darryl, Nicky and me on our safety stop. All of a sudden Darryl grabbed Nicky and was pointing out to see, I swam next to them expecting to see a large shark of some sort but instead there was a huge bill swimming straight toward us, and at about three metres away it turned and we were looking at a enormous black marlin in all its glory. It was close enough that we could see its beautiful markings as it came past. To see this magnificent creature is a very rare and special experience and it will definitely be in our top dive sightings for sure! Our intrepid camera-woman managed to snap a shot or two. Well done Nicky.
On a dive from Yellowfin Drop to Brewers Garden, Michelle spotted a cuttlefish about 3cm long. This little creature is a master of disguise blending into the reef and changing the texture of its skin from frilly to smooth and continually flashing different colours to suit its surroundings. Full marks to Michelle for spotting this as when it was motionless it was virtually invisible. Another rare sighting was of a pink sea cucumber; normally they are brown, black or grey depending on the species.
Other dives in that area have been very fruitful this month too with sightings of grey reef sharks, manta rays, tasselfish also known as bartman and a purple weedy scorpionfish (Rhinopisa frondosa) all on Coachman's. Lots of turtles have been spotted - hawksbill, green and even a loggerhead were seen. We mostly see loggerhead turtles in the summer months when they come here to mate and nest.
Another interesting find: Darryl was on his way back from a morning fish and he noticed hatching tracks coming down the sand dune; on investigation he found that six hatchings had made their own way to the sea. On digging down he found two dead leatherback hatchings and two more barely alive - these are really late babies as most nets have hatched by mid-March. We managed to revive the two hatchlings and release them far out at sea, to give them a fighting chance.
On another dive, we spotted a small yellow head sticking out of the reef at Aerial and went to have a closer look - it was a yellow moray eel with green eyes, something we had never seen before. After consulting the books, it turned out to be a golden moray eel (Gymnothorax melatremus). These small and rare moray species are found through out the Indian Ocean but have only been recorded at a few scattered locations. Adults only attain a maximum length of around 20cm - a unique find.
Rowan Williams, the "Manta Man" managed to conjure up his tricks again, after his trip last year when he and Darryl tickled a female manta ray for ages; he was under a lot of pressure to produce another manta experience. As we stopped behind Island Rock to take off our life jackets Michelle thought she saw a dolphin, but low and behold, it was a four-metre manta ray! I donned my mask, snorkel and fins and jumped in so that we would not loose the manta. The ray was so relaxed, gliding only a metre or so below the surface. As Daniel and Thomas got into snorkel, a second manta came gliding in. A great time had by all - mantas and snorkellers. Thanks Rowan! Then over the Easter weekend we had five manta sightings in only two days whilst on scuba. - But where are the whale sharks?
Congratulations to the following divers
For completing their PADI Discover Scuba Diving:
Sabastian Farrell
Lee-Anne and Chris Peyper
Alan Murray
Gema Schleicher
Andries van Staden
Alley Christos
For completing their PADI Open Water Courses:
Anal, Daniel and Thomas Bosman
Lucy King
Maaza Seyoum
Lelanie Vermuelen
For completing their PADI Advanced Courses:
Niclas and Lenny Muller
For completing their Emergency First Response Courses:
Karin and Josh van Marken
Scott and Riley Houston
For completing his PADI Dive Master Course:
Scott Houston
Yours in diving,
Darryl, Clive, Michelle & Catherine
The Rocktail Dive Team
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